CHAPTER IX.

The Counsellor de Brosses, who wished no harm to the
Pope, wrote in 1740:—­“The Papal Government,
although in fact the worst in Europe, is at the same
time the mildest.”

The Count de Tournon, an honest man, an excellent
economist, a Conservative as to all existing powers,
and a judge rather too much prejudiced in favour of
the Popes, said, in 1832:—­

“From this concentration of the
powers of pontiff, bishop, and sovereign, naturally
arises the most absolute authority possible over
temporal affairs; but the exercise of this authority,
tempered by the usages and forms of government, is
even still more so by the virtues of the Pontiffs who
for many years have filled the chair of St. Peter;
so that this most absolute of governments is
exercised with extreme mildness. The Pope
is an elective sovereign; his States are the
patrimony of Catholicism, because they are the pledge
of the independence of the chief of the faithful,
and the reigning Pope is the supreme administrator,
the guardian of this domain.”

Finally, the Count de Rayneval, the latest and least
felicitous apologist of the Papacy, made in 1856 the
following admissions:—­

“Not long ago the ancient
traditions of the Court of Rome were faithfully
observed. All modifications of established usages,
all improvements, even material, were viewed with an
evil eye, and seemed full of danger. Public
affairs were exclusively managed by prelates.
The higher posts in the State were by law interdicted
to laymen. In practice the different powers
were often confounded. The principle of pontifical
infallibility was applied to administrative questions.
The personal decision of the Sovereign had been known
to reverse the decision of the tribunals, even in
civil matters. The Cardinal Secretary of
State, first minister in the fullest extent of
the term, concentred in his own hands all the
powers of the State. Under his supreme direction
the different branches of the administration were
confided to clerks rather than ministers.
These neither formed a council, nor deliberated
together upon the affairs of the State.
The public finances were administered in the most
profound secrecy. No information was communicated
to the nation as to the mode in which its revenues
were spent. Not only did the budget remain
a mystery, but it was afterwards discovered that
the accounts were frequently not made up and
balanced. Lastly, municipal liberties, which are
appreciated above all others by the Italians,
and which more particularly respond to their
real tendencies, had been submitted to the most
restrictive measures. But from the day on
which Pope Pius IX. ascended the throne”
etc. etc.

Thus we find that the not long ago of the Count
de Rayneval is an exact date. It means, in good
French, “before the election of Pius IX.,”
or again, “up to the 16th of June, 1846.”